Return From Middle Earth
by Knife Hand
Summary: After fourteen years and a new life in Middle Earth, Shinji, Asuka and Rei return to Tokyo 3 twenty-four hours after they left, reverting to teenagers again. (Sequel to Children In Middle Earth. Part 3 uploaded)
1. Chapter 1

Title: Return from Middle Earth  
  
Author: Knife Hand  
  
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated  
  
Spoilers: Spoilers for Eva, no event spoilers for LotR. Must read Children In Middle Earth first.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of The Rings or Neon Genesis Evangelion. I would buy them but I am broke.  
  
Summary: After fourteen years and a new life in Middle Earth, Shinji, Asuka and Rei return to Tokyo 3 twenty-four hours after they left, reverting to teenagers again. (Sequel to Children In Middle Earth)  
  
AN: Just to clarify in this I am ignoring the whole 'Rei is a clone' thing. She is the original and she bears no relation to Shinji whatsoever. Set just after the eleventh Angel.  
  
"__" means speech (Japanese or denoted), '__' means thought, *__* means ME Common --__-- means computer messages.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The pain and light faded, revealing the corner where the trio had disappeared from, for them, fourteen years ago.  
  
"We're back. We're home." Shinji said.  
  
"We can't have been gone long, everything looks the same." Asuka observed.  
  
"We should report in." Rei stated calmly.  
  
They made their way to Nerv headquarters and were met at the gates by Ritsuko.  
  
"Where have you three been? You've been missing for twenty-four hours." Dr. Akagi screamed.  
  
"Only twenty-four hours?" Asuka whispered.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ritsuko asked.  
  
"You would not believe us if we told you." Shinji replied.  
  
"Fine. Follow me. You are all getting complete medicals." Ritsuko said, leading them to the infirmary.  
  
After several hours the medical results had come back.  
  
"This is impossible." Ritsuko whispered, staring at the report.  
  
Comparing their recent medical to the one that had been performed two days ago, you would not believe that they related to the same people, despite the fact that their physical appearance was almost the same as previously. All three of the pilots had increased activity in the memory areas of their brains, indicating from the amount of increase what accounted to years of memories. Their physiques and general state of health were much improved with more well defined muscle than before.  
  
The pilots had also sustained a number of scars that had not been present before, some fairly fresh while others seemingly dated back years. The most disturbing thing about the medicals related to Asuka and Rei. They both had definite signs of pregnancy and childbirth, however their last medical showed that they were both virgins. What Dr. Akagi failed to notice was that the most drastic change in the pilots was not physical, it was psychological.  
  
********  
  
After their medical examinations, Misato had taken Shinji and Asuka back to 'their' apartment, leaving Rei to make her own way to her own apartment, much to Shinji's annoyance. When they arrived Shinji went strait to the kitchen.  
  
"Asuka, want a drink?" Shinji called to Asuka who was in the living room.  
  
"Sure." Asuka responded.  
  
To Misato's surprise Shinji entered the living room with three beers. He tossed one to Misato and one to Asuka before cracking the last can and sculling half of it.  
  
"Ahh. Shame there is no Ale, this stuff is too weak." Shinji commented, receiving a consenting sound from Asuka and a shocked stare from Misato.  
  
Misato soon went to bed, stressed after a day where 'her children' were missing and shocked at their alcohol consumption. As the night progressed and the beer flowed semi-freely, as they had school the following day, Asuka began to feel the loss of her love, Faramir and her children who were still back in Middle Earth. Late in the night Asuka finally fell asleep, actually she cried herself to sleep in Shinji's comforting arms, and Shinji carried her into her room before retreating to his own. Shinji, a few hours later, called Rei and they talked on the phone till dawn, both being unable to sleep without the other beside them.  
  
********  
  
When dawn finally broke, Shinji got up and made breakfast of himself, Asuka and Misato. He walked to school with Asuka, both of them unconsciously searching their surroundings for danger. When they reached the classroom, Shinji saw Rei and they hugged, oblivious of everyone else.  
  
*I missed you last night, beloved Wife.* Shinji said in Common.  
  
*And I you, Husband.* Rei responded in kind.  
  
The entire class, with the exception of Asuka, stared in amazement at the two Pilots and their easy manor more representative of a middle aged couple than fourteen year olds. (AN: LOL, remember that under 24 hours prior they were 42 yeas old, physically and they have 56 years worth of memories)  
  
*Get a room.* Asuka joked a she sat down, causing some students to stare at her, mostly because she was not yelling or having a conniption fit.  
  
At that point the teacher entered the room and all the students moved to their seats. Shinji sat next to Rei, moving his desk so that they could easily touch each other, a reassurance for a home that was lost, a lifetime gone and all the things they left behind. Shinji had to nudge Rei to remind her when the teacher called out her name, her maiden name of Ayanami, a name she had not gone by for more than twelve and a half years, from her perspective. Asuka had the worst of it. She had not one to turn to, no lover that could comfort her, and no children that she had raised and loved with all her heart. As the boring lecture continued, Asuka struggled with the loneliness.  
  
Rei and Shinji noticed this and spent the first twenty minutes of class writing a special patch for the student messaging system. The system was designed so that patches were automatically downloaded and loaded by all the student's desks. Then they sent a message to Asuka using the special patch.  
  
********  
  
Asuka was brought out of her memories, thoughts of Faramir mostly but also many thoughts of her twins, Misato and Danny, by the beeping of the school message system. The message read:  
  
-- He will live forever in the garden of your heart as long as you let it bloom. So shall all the loved ones of you life. Shinji & Rei, CoG. --  
  
What surprised Asuka most about the message was the added part at the end of the message, 'CoG' means Captain of Gondor. That and the fact that it was written in Common Tongue.  
  
Asuka smiled weakly as the couple. Her pain was not healed, but now it was more bearable knowing that she was not alone. She had her friends.  
  
********  
  
The three pilots walked along the streets of Tokyo three, talking animatedly. In Common Tongue.  
  
*So anyway, there was an attack on the little village, and this one soldier grabbed me and began pulling me to safety with the other women.* Asuka was saying. *He got about two paces before an orc popped up in front of us. He just stood there, totally shocked, so I grabbed his sword and killed the orc. Faramir and I had left our weapons on the horses. After the raid, the soldiers were so impressed by how I had fought, that they declared me a 'warrior demon come to exterminate their foes'.*  
  
*Touji would laugh to hear that.* Shinji retorted, shifting the sports bag that he was carrying.  
  
The trio entered NERV and quickly made their way to the changing rooms. More out of longstanding habit and years of field conditions, Shinji entered the changing room dedicated to the female pilots, following Asuka and, more importantly Rei, putting all his gear in one of the empty lockers. None of the pilots was uncomfortable with the situation as the had spent years, while travelling before going to Gondor and during missions with Faramir and their troops, in situations where there was no privacy so they had learnt not to be embarrassed by their nudity, not that the plug suits they changed into were very modest.  
  
Major Misato Katsuragi met the pilots outside the changing rooms, not noticing that Shinji exited with the girls. Misato lead them all down to the test plugs and they began the Synchronisation test.  
  
*I forgot why I hate the Eva's so much.* Shinji said when the test started.  
  
*Which is?* Asuka asked.  
  
*Coughing up the LCL after we get out of the plug* Shinji responded with a grin, causing all three of the pilots to laugh.  
  
In the test control room this exchange was completely missed as the technicians stared at the instrument readouts.  
  
"That's impossible, check the results again." Misato said.  
  
"Results are confirmed by the Magi, the numbers are accurate." Maya responded.  
  
"How is it possible that they not only all broke their Sync records but all have exactly the same sync ratio?" Ritsuko demanded.  
  
"I don't know but it's true. They all have sync ratios of 99%." Maya responded.  
  
"Ok, you guys can go." Ritsuko said into the mike.  
  
"Start looking for a possible reason." Misato commanded before leaving the room.  
  
********  
  
Shinji and Rei stood quietly at the grave of Rei's parents. It had been several weeks since they had returned from Middle Earth and things were still hard. Asuka was still hurting from her loss of Faramir, often breaking down for no apparent reason and crying for hours on end. Shinji and Rei were not getting enough sleep as they were forced to sleep apart by Misato, who did not understand their situation, and Shinji's father, who just did not care. In addition, Misato and Ritsuko had been performing a lot of tests since they had returned. In all the activity since their return, Shinji and Rei had not had much time to come to terms with the fact that they were back or the long term ramifications to their lives.  
  
With tears in her eyes, Rei knelt down to the gravestone that bore the name Ayanami and marked the remains of her parents.  
  
"Mother, Father. This is Shinji Ikari, the son of Gendo and Yui Ikari, you remember them. He is the father of your Grandchildren." Rei said quietly before stepping back beside Shinji and holding his hand.  
  
They stood quietly as the sun slowly rose over the horizon. They stood over Rei's parents grave for several hours, internally coming to terms with the changes in their lives. Just before 10am, they started walking to another part of the cemetery. Rei stoped a short distance away from the grave Shinji was headed to. When he got there, he met his father and looked down at his mother's grave. They stood there for twenty minutes before Commander Ikari had to leave, and in that time only five words were spoken.  
  
"I miss her." Shinji said.  
  
"Me too." Commander Ikari responded.  
  
After Commander Ikari left, Rei joined Shinji at his mother's grave.  
  
"Over the years, we've buried too many people." Shinji almost whispered. "But for me, the two that hit me the hardest both bore the name Yui Ikari."  
  
"At least they both died near those who loved them." Rei responded, tears welling in her eyes.  
  
They left the cemetery supporting each other, making their way back to Rei's apartment so that they could greve for their loss in piece.  
  
TBC 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Return from Middle Earth  
  
Author: Knife Hand  
  
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated  
  
Spoilers: Spoilers for Eva, no event spoilers for LotR. Must read Children In Middle Earth first.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of The Rings or Neon Genesis Evangelion. I would buy them but I am broke.  
  
Summary: After fourteen years and a new life in Middle Earth, Shinji, Asuka and Rei return to Tokyo 3 twenty-four hours after they left, reverting to teenagers again. (Sequel to Children In Middle Earth)  
  
AN: Just to clarify in this I am ignoring the whole 'Rei is a clone' thing. She is the original and she bears no relation to Shinji whatsoever. Set just after the eleventh Angel.  
  
"__" means speech (Japanese or denoted), '__' means thought, *__* means ME Common --__-- means computer messages.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Shinji awoke from the most peaceful sleep he had had in weeks. He felt the familiar pressure of Rei sleeping on his chest. She felt just as right sleeping there in their current, fourteen year old bodies, as it had in their older bodies. He looked around the tiny, filthy apartment and decided that it was unsuitable for his wife to sleep here when there were no other occupants in the entire apartment building that Misato, Asuka and himself lived in. After a moment he realised that before their other life, Shinji would have had a compulsion to clean this room, he had been a total neat freak, but now that part of his psyche was mended and he did not feel that compulsion. He noticed that the sun was shining and it indicated that it was early morning, they had slept away all the afternoon and night after visiting the cemetery. As he felt Rei awaken he realised that they had school today.  
  
"Morning Sleepyhead." Shinji said, sparking the memory of them waking after his injury all those years ago.  
  
"Morning. Don't we have school?" Rei asked, to which Shinji nodded.  
  
They quickly got dressed and had a small breakfast. They walked to school in a comfortable silence for a while, before Shinji broke the silence.  
  
"Rei? You don't have to answer this. Ok?" Shinji said, waiting for Rei's nod before continuing. "Why did you follow my dad so blindly? Before I mean."  
  
Rei contemplated the question for a minute before answering, searching through her memory.  
  
"When I was younger, your father, the commander, saved me from Dr. Akagi's mother who was choking me. I had innocently repeated something that the commander had said, and it was insulting. He killed Dr. Akagi and saved me. Then he ordered me to quite, and I obeyed because he had just saved me. He kept ordering and I kept obeying." Rei replied in her soft voice. "I now know he was using me, but back then he made me feel wanted, needed."  
  
"I understand. I used to want to feel needed." Shinji replied, feeling relieved about the issue, which had only bothered him since their return.  
  
Shinji placed his arm around Rei as they walked, projecting his comfort at her presence and his relief to her. She leaned into his encircling arm and let go of the nervousness she had felt at his question.  
  
'He still loves me.' She thought with a smile.  
  
********  
  
Asuka stormed into the classroom. Last night had been hell for her. First she had to sit through Misato's drunken rant about 'her Shinji' not coming home, then later, in the dead of night, she had rolled over and found her bed empty, and the loss of Faramir had hit her all over again. She had wept until dawn. As she slammed her bag down on the desk, she noticed Shinji and Rei, sitting in their new spot, looking at her sympathetically. She smiled inside, knowing that they would help her, and that they had lost more than she could ever imagine with the death of their daughter, Yui. Touji had noticed the glace to the 'new couple' and misconstrued it and her current mood.  
  
"Aww. What's the matter? Can't the demon find a man of her own?" he said mockingly.  
  
Shinji had recognised his tone of voice instantly and was out of his seat in seconds, which is why he was close enough to intercept Asuka's fist. All Touji saw Asuka launch the punch and knew that he could not dodge it, and then there was a fleshy slapping sound a second before he should have been hit. Opening his eyes, Touji saw Shinji holding Asuka's fist, the muscles on both their arms straining and he idly noticed several small scars on Shinji's arm that he had never seen before, but they looked old.  
  
*This is not the way, Asuka. You, Rei and I know about Faramir, and that's enough. He would have done anything for you and you know it, so calm down!* Shinji said authoritatively, leaving all the other students confused at the strange language he was speaking.  
  
*It hurts so much, Shinji.* Asuka responded.  
  
*It will get better. The pain will stay, but it will get easier to deal with. I promise.* Shinji said.  
  
Asuka slowly nodded and sat in her seat, while Shinji turned to face Touji.  
  
"Say anything like that again, and I will beat you to a living pulp, then I'll let the girls have a go at you, and I guarantee that they won't be as nice." Shinji threatened, before returning to his seat as the teacher entered.  
  
*He's just lucky I did not have my bow, or he'd be dead already.* Rei whispered after he had sat down.  
  
*Yah, but its Touji. He was born with his foot in his mouth.* Shinji whispered back, causing Rei to grin.  
  
********  
  
After lunch, the class had Physical Education, and due to the pool being cleaned, and the lack of imagination of the teachers, the class was going to have a mixed game of Soccer. To 'be fair' it was decided that the best male and female athletes would be the captains, which meant it was Touji and Asuka, who had put her hair into the ponytail that her older self had always worn, captaining. Asuka, who had first pick, chose Shinji first, before Rei to make sure she didn't lose him to Touji. Touji, concerned about losing Shinji, picked Kensuke, allowing Asuka to pick Rei. The picking continued till all thirty-two students had been chosen, 8 male and 8 female a side.  
  
Shinji, Asuka and Rei set up their team to compensate for the extra players, they had the Goalie, and four defenders, four centre fielders and four forwards, with the three of them playing roving positions, creating fairly even conditions. Touji however, set his team up with a Goalie, Six defenders, three centre fielders and six forwards. As the game started, it seemed that Touji's numerical superiority on offence and defence would give his team an advantage; however Asuka, Shinji and Rei's roving provided their team with an extra player or two around the ball, depending on where the ball was, which nullified Touji's strategy.  
  
The game ended with Asuka's team winning 3 to 2, with Asuka, Shinji and Rei's roving being decisive despite the fact that Touji's team had several of the school Soccer team players on it. Seconds after the full time whistle blew, the Angel attack sirens were blearing. Without hesitation, Asuka, Shinji and Rei ran for the closest access point to the Geofront.  
  
********  
  
The three Eva's rocketed to the surface and ghosted through the now abandoned Tokyo 3. This Angel had suddenly appeared above the city, in the form of a black and white sphere.  
  
"We've just sent you all the data on the current Angel. That's literally all we know. I want you to back each other up on this one." Misato ordered over the radio.  
  
*Belay that.* Shinji ordered. *I got an idea.*  
  
*Thank god, Misato's couldn't manage a real battle if her life depended on it.* Asuka replied, gaining nods from Shinji and Rei.  
  
*Alright, Rei, I want you to set up a sniper nest in around here,* Shinji said rattling off coordinates while drawing a rough map's image just above the street. *Take any clear shot.*  
  
*Rodger.* Rei said, before moving off to her area.  
  
*Asuka, I want you here, to the North. Set up an ambush. I'll lead it up past Rei to your position, then once you engage, I'll sweep around and attack from the back.* Shinji continued, indicating leading the Angel from the South up past Rei's position to Asuka's ambush.  
  
*Right. I'll call in when in position.* Asuka said.  
  
********  
  
"What are they saying? What the hell are they doing?" Misato asked.  
  
"Ambush." The Sub-Commander said.  
  
"Huh?" the confused Major asked.  
  
"Shinji just set up an ambush. Looks like Shinji's going to lead the Angel past Rei's sniper nest and into Asuka's ambush. Not bad set up on the fly." The Sub-Commander explained.  
  
"Oh." Misato said slightly confused.  
  
********  
  
*Sniper nest, set up.* Rei called in.  
  
*In position.* Asuka said a minute later.  
  
*Alright. Engaging.* Shinji called.  
  
Unit 01 stepped around the corner of a building and fired three shots at the Angel. The Angel disappeared just before shots reached it. Shinji swore, already on the move to lead it to Asuka's location. Suddenly he noticed that his steps were sticky, and the next thing Shinji knew Unit 01 was being swallowed up to its knees by a large, pitch black shadow.  
  
*Asuka, Rei. Abort. Repeat, abort. The sphere is a decoy. Fall back. I'm being swallowed by a shadow. Go now!* Shinji ordered.  
  
*No! I won't leave you.* Rei argued.  
  
*Rei, Go! Please?* Shinji begged.  
  
Asuka started withdrawing, reluctantly.  
  
*Come on Rei. We'll rescue him but not if we get caught ourselves.* Asuka said.  
  
Rei slowly began to move away from the shadow.  
  
*I love you, wife.* Shinji said, just before the horn of Unit 01 disappeared into the shadow, cutting off communications.  
  
*I love you too, Shinji* Rei whispered as she retreated.  
  
TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Return from Middle Earth  
  
Author: Knife Hand  
  
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated  
  
Spoilers: Spoilers for Eva, no event spoilers for LotR. Must read Children In Middle Earth first.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of The Rings or Neon Genesis Evangelion. I would buy them but I am broke.  
  
Summary: After fourteen years and a new life in Middle Earth, Shinji, Asuka and Rei return to Tokyo 3 twenty-four hours after they left, reverting to teenagers again. (Sequel to Children In Middle Earth)  
  
AN: Just to clarify in this I am ignoring the whole 'Rei is a clone' thing. She is the original and she bears no relation to Shinji whatsoever. Set just after the eleventh Angel.  
  
AN2: Rudy, that part was to explain why Rei followed Gendo seeing as she is not a clone. :) Adyen remember that technically have only been gone for 24 hours, so the computer technology has not changed, and they are geniuses.  
  
"__" means speech (Japanese or denoted), '__' means thought, *__* means ME Common --__-- means computer messages.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"The Angel's body can only be described by abstract mathematics, a Sea of Durack. It's a pocket universe, and the sphere that appears in the sky is only apparent when the hypothetical circuit of the body is closed." Ritsuko explained.  
  
"So the true target is the shadow, correct?" Commander Ikari asked.  
  
"Yes sir. We believe that if we drop all remaining 992 N2 mines while simultaneously activating the AT fields of the two remaining Eva's at specific points, we will be able to destroy the Angel." Ritsuko said.  
  
"NO!" Rei said, emphatically.  
  
"Quiet." Gendo said to Rei before turning back to Ritsuko. "Proceed."  
  
"Rei, calm down." Asuka whispered.  
  
"No one should ever have to burry their chid, why are you in such a hurry to?" Rei asked Gendo menacingly.  
  
"What is your problem, Pilot Ayanami?" Commander Ikari asked.  
  
"That is my husband in there! And the name's Ikari!" Rei practically screamed.  
  
Shock swept through the group, except for Asuka who had attended the wedding as the Maid of Honour. Misato was so shocked that she literally fell out of her chair, while Ritsuko dropped her glasses, which she had been holding during her lecture. Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki had a slightly intense look on his face, as if he had finally found a new piece to a puzzle but was not sure where it goes, while Gendo had a look total shock, something that no one at NERV had ever seen before, in fact no one had ever seen anything but his patented "I'm a total bastard" expression. After a few seconds, Rei ran from the meeting.  
  
"You bastard. She had to burry her daughter and now you want to kill the only reminder of her son." Asuka yelled at Commander Ikari before taking off after Rei.  
  
When Asuka finally caught up with Rei, the blue haired girl turned and began weeping into the shoulder of the redhead.  
  
"I can't lose him too. Not now. I'm still getting over losing Yui." Rei sobbed.  
  
"We'll get him back. I promise. He's like a brother to me." Asuka reassured her distraught 'sister'.  
  
The only thought that entered Commander Ikari's mind in the next few minutes was 'I am a Grandfather?'  
  
********  
  
"Look, Asuka. I think I understand what you are going through." Misato said.  
  
"No. I really don't think that you do." Asuka replied.  
  
They were waiting in the staging area for the operation to "save" Shinji, by blowing him up, to begin.  
  
"We were gone for a long time, Misato." Asuka said sadly.  
  
"You were gone for one day."  
  
"We were gone for fourteen years. We had a whole other life. If anyone needs someone to talk to at the moment it is Rei."  
  
"Why Rei?" Misato asked, genuinely confused.  
  
"Because of what is happening. We lived in a harsh and violent world, a world where death is a daily occurrence. Shinji and Rei were the kindest and most loving parents imaginable in a world of pain, and their reward was to watch as their four year old daughter's body rebelled against her. They watched their daughter suffer in agony for three months till she could not stand the pain anymore and gave up on living. Now that bastard who calls himself Shinji's father wants to bomb the last reminder that Rei has of her dead daughter and her lost son. Tell me, wouldn't you need someone to talk to?"  
  
"Asuka, I." Misato started.  
  
"Excuse me. I have to go and help the Devil kill my brother." Asuka said as she walked away from Misato towards Unit 02.  
  
********  
  
Asuka and Rei were sitting in their Eva's waiting for the operation to start. Officially Ritsuko was in charge of the operation because Commander Ikari was still digesting the fact that Rei was an Ikari and he was a grandfather, while Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki had returned to the Geofront to laugh uncontrollably at the look on Commander Ikari's face when Rei had made the revelation. The bombers with the N2 mines were lining up the approach to make their runs on the shadow that was the 12th Angel.  
  
'Shinji, my love. Come back to me. Please?' Rei though desperately.  
  
'Rei?' a faint voice whispered into her mind, so faint that it almost wasn't there.  
  
Suddenly the ground began to shake and the black and white ball floating in the sky turned dead black.  
  
"Abort. Repeat, Abort the bombing run. Something's happening." Asuka ordered over the comms.  
  
Far above the contrails from the massive bombers began to veer off from the target.  
  
"Holy Shit." One bombardier whispered as he looked through his bomb sights.  
  
He got a bird's eye view of the large black disk, which was the target, cracking like a broken plate and spraying blood into the air. Then the floating black ball rippled before rupturing to reveal a blood soaked arm, followed by a head which gave off a roar that he could almost hear over the constant noise of the engines, and the thirty five thousand vertical feet separating them.  
  
For a second the monstrosity emerging from the sphere looked up and he saw, through thirty five thousand feet and a bomb sight, a madness in the eyes of the beast. The madness that bomber crews get after flying through very heavy flack, the look of someone who has been through hell, wounded and jaded, and is now looking to return to loved ones and not willing to let anything get in his way. As the bomber speeded away, dragging the devastating scene below from his sights, the bombardier said a silent prayer to the pilot of the rescued machine that he finds his loved ones in good stead, another for the quick death of any the pilot considers an enemy and then resolved to go home and talk with his wife, to work through the issues that had been slowly pushing the pair of them apart.  
  
********  
  
Light poured into the entry plug, momentarily blinding Shinji.  
  
"I just wanted to see Rei, one more time." He whispered.  
  
"I'm hear, Shinji. I'm here." Rei said, half collapsing over him in tears.  
  
"Welcome back, brother." Asuka said, standing slightly back from the hatch.  
  
"I saw her. I saw Yui, and she's in a better place." He said slowly.  
  
Rei broke down into a new wave of crying, and Asuka silently began shedding tears behind the married couple.  
  
"She, above all, deserved it." Asuka said softly.  
  
Misato looked on with a mix of emotions. 'Her children' had changed, they were much more mature and she wondered if they would still want her around, not that they had ever needed her, but she had, and still, needed them.  
  
********  
  
Far away, in a room lit only by the flickering of a TV set, men railed at the images they were seeing.  
  
"How dare they?" The leader preached. "How dare mere mortals challenge the Messengers of God, and His Divine Will? The heathens will pay for their insolence. We will show them the true will of God. The Knights of Divine Justice will spread, as if wings give speed to our feet, and we will stop the demonic heathens. We will find the soulless beasts who murder the expression of the Divine and we will send them back to the pit of Hell, where they belong. Amen."  
  
"Amen." Voices echoed through the near darkness.  
  
The light of insanity glinted in the leader's eyes as he issued orders and planed for the destruction of NERV.  
  
(AN: This is not a knock on Christianity or any other, major or minor, religion. This is a demonstration of how one individual with a warped perspective of the world can influence other into irrational and illogical behaviour. The Knights are a representation of the suicide and doomsday cults around the world who would resort to violence and terrorism to achieve their warped views of religion and the world.)  
  
********  
  
Elsewhere, a solitary figure also watched the TV. The figure's eyes flashed to a bundle resting carefully on the bed nearby. She paced the room nervously. She had been waiting for this for a long time. Unlike The Knights of Divine Justice, of which she had no knowledge, she was aware of the identity of those who would defy godlike beings. She knew her mission but she wondered about other things as well. Thoughts from long ago filled her mind as she struggled with the path ahead of her.  
  
'I know what I must do, but I wonder. Can I let them stand alone?' she thought.  
  
With that question unresolved, she began to pack her belongings. She had a long way to travel before this was over, and she only hoped that the question would be answered before she got where she was going. Pulling on a loge trench coat and pulling up the hood to protect her from the rain outside, she looked around the small hotel room. She missed her old home, either one, but that was a life that she had left behind long ago, and now she had one last task to perform, one holdover from that former life. When she pulled the door closed, the room bore almost no witness that she was ever there as she faded into the rain and the darkness.  
  
TBC. 


End file.
